Do the green thing on September: Walk the Walk

Every month we update you on the monthly green recommendation of our friends at 'Do The Green Thing'. This month they ask you a simple request: Walk the Walk.

And they explain:

If we all drove a little less and walked a little more, the world would be a lot nicer place to live.

Powered by your legs and a hearty breakfast, walking burns no fossil fuel and causes no CO2 emissions but still gets you from A to B. Slower? Well, sometimes. In a better state of mind? Nearly always.

So walk the walk instead of driving the drive. It’s much better for the environment, and as an added bonus will help you burn off any excess donuts/glasses of wine/Cornish pasties you might have consumed.

Need more reasons to leave your car in parking and start moving your feet? check out this page http://www.dothegreenthing.com/green_actions/walk_once/why, as well as this video clip:

Enjoy your walk!
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

My article about the book industry's key elements for green future on Vulpes Libris

Vulpes Libris invited me to take part and write an article for their Environment Week, and so I happily did. The article is about few key elements that can significantly impact the future of the book industry and determine how green it will be.

You can find it here - http://vulpeslibris.wordpress.com/2008/09/09/raz-godelnik-from-eco-libris-talks-about-the-future-of-the-book/.

The whole Environment Week is full with great articles and topics and you are welcome to check them out. Here is the program of this week:

MONDAY: Naturalist Scott Weidensaul travels the world seeking lost species in The Ghost with Trembling Wings, which Jackie finds riveting.

TUESDAY: We have a contribution from Raz Godelnik, CEO of Eco Libris, a company specialising in sustainable reading.

WEDNESDAY: Mary talks to Mark Lynas, author of Six Degrees about climate change, the need to respond to environmental challenges, his frustration with global warming deniers and the power of books.

THURSDAY: We have a guest piece from Lizzie Rushton, a geographer writing about Christian environmentalism based on controversial interpretations of the Book of Revelation.

FRIDAY: To raise our spirits, Mary is back again with a review of Andrew Simms’ (ed.) Do Good Lives have to Cost the Earth? (The answer, in conclusion, being no.)

SATURDAY: Leena reviews Nature’s Child: Encounters with Wonders of the Natural World in which John Lister-Kaye, nature writer and conservationist, writes about bringing up her young daughter to have a close relationship with nature.

SUNDAY: Some book recommendations from The Soil Association.

Also, don't forget to enter the giveaway of How Can I Stop Climate Change? here!

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Green Options: Scientists Say Forests Are a Possible Carbon Storage Solution

As part of Eco-Libris' ongoing content partnership with Green Options Media, we feature a post that was originally published by Ariel Schwartz on September 8 on CleanTechnica. Today's post is about a new research that checked the capability of forests to store carbon.




Maybe one of the best things we can do it offset our CO2 is also one of the simplest: stop cutting down trees. In a recent issue of Bioscience, Ohio State University Professor Peter Curtis wrote that carbon storage in Midwestern forests could offset greenhouse gas emissions from two-thirds of the nearby population. Maintaining the forests could even increase storage capacity in the future.

Curtis and his team based their calculations on measurements taken between 1999 and 2005. The measurements, which factored in climate, history, and tree type, showed that a forested region in northern Michigan could potentially store over 350,000 tons of carbon each year. That adds up to about 62 percent of the region's emissions.

Interestingly, the majority of the CO2 stored in the researchers' forested region is located in wood mass and soil organic matter. The remaining CO2 is taken in by stem wood, leaves, and debris.

Curtis' team also noticed that younger trees hold more carbon than older ones, but aging trees have younger trees underneath them waiting to rejuvenate the forest. They hope that their discovery will help persuade policymakers to leave both old and young forests be.

I doubt that we'll stop cutting down forests anytime soon, as humans are regrettably shortsighted. But storing CO2 in forests is a great natural option to potentially dangerous alternatives like carbon capture and storage.

More Posts on Carbon Dioxide:

• World's First Carbon Capture Pilot Launching Next Week


• New Study Says Commercial Carbon Capture Unlikely by 2020

Monday's green books series: 'In Memory of Central Park' by Queenelle Minet

Today I have the pleasure to introduce a new green-themed book that is also starting a new collaboration with Eco-Libris.

Our book for today is:

'In Memory of Central Park' by Queenelle Minet

In "In Memory of Central Park", Minet presents a vision of a future New York City where both nature and civil liberties have ceased to exist. Set in 2050, New York City has been encased in a massive terrorist-proof shell, and no one can travel in or out. In this dark world, people begin falling ill and dying as a result of pollution trapped inside the very structures meant to protect them.

"In Memory of Central Park transports the reader to a world both completely different and uncomfortably similar to the one in which we live," says Minet, a progressive environmental advocate and psychotherapist. "By engrossing readers in an entertaining story, I hope to make a difference in terms of how readers view the important issues of our day, including environmental degradation, global warming, and the erosion of our civil liberties."

Another way Minet is trying to make a difference is by collaboratng with Eco-Libris. She will be offering readers who will purchase the book on the book's signing events (details on the events to be provided on seperate post) the opportunity to balance out their new copy by planting one tree for it with us. All buyers will also receive with the book our sticker (made of recycled paper) saying "One tree planted for this book".

Begun by her late husband Aron Spilken, Ph.D., Minet finished "In Memory of Central Park" and made it her own as she dealt with the grief of his loss. The novel follows lovers Noah and Margaret as they navigate their forbidden relationship inside the politically repressive, encapsulated city. As a therapist, Noah witnesses firsthand the damage the man-made environment has on his patients, both mentally and physically. Inspired by a group of revolutionaries, Noah and Margaret must make a decision-do they stay in the enclosed city out of fear, or take their chances in the outside world long-since abandoned as a hopeless cause?

We have mentioned before our love for green-themed novels and this is definitely one of those, or as Minnet calls it on the book's website a "political satire and aching love story wrapped into one." My first association when first reading about the book was Orwell's 1984, which makes it even more fascinating to me.

Here are the book details:

Title: In Memory of Central Park

Author: Queenelle Minet

A former NYC resident, Minet currently resides in Larkspur, Calif., in Marin County. She holds a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University West, a master's degree in theatre arts from Northwestern University and a bachelor's degree in English literature from Penn State University. A licensed marriage and family therapist, she is currently a member of the American Psychological Association and numerous environmental organizations.

Publisher: Synergy Books

Publishing date: September 2008

The book's website: http://www.centralparknovel.com/

More green-themed novels:

Welcome to Shirley by Kelly McMasters

Naked in the Woods by Jim Motavalli

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

And the winner in a copy of "On Empty" is..

Thank you for all the participants in our giveaway of the book 'On Empty (Out of Time)' by Bill Roth we reviewed last Monday.

We got many interesting comments on the debate about nuclear energy as an altenrative to the current sources of energy. This debate is far from being over, but I sure hope that policymakers will take a look at the book prior to discussing this issue. In any case, just to put things in perspective, as Bill himself mentioned in his comment, nuclear is one of seven technology paths discussed in the book.

And the winner in our giveaway is Johan Jansson, who wrote the following:

The last few days all news media are reporting about the newly discovered leak in the nuclear waste facility in Saxony, Germany: "The Asse-II mine was closed in 1964 and converted to an "experimental" nuclear facility in 1967. Now it officially holds up to 130,000 metal drums of low- and mid-level radioactive waste. But the report said highly radioactive plutonium had also been dumped in the mine, along with a number of nuclear fuel rods. Radioactivity readings there are at eight times the "safe" level, some barrels have tipped over and rusted through, and the worry is that saltwater leaking from the mine is not just radioactive but might contaminate public water supplies. The mine has been known to leak brine since 1988. Some experts fear it may collapse altogether by 2014." From Spiegel.

It is a scary world indeed. "We" are putting enormous responsibility in the hands of few, when we use nuclear power. Our over infatuation with tech fixes is scaring me the most. The only way forward is conservation. In order for this to work, understanding of human behavior is much, much more important than the next hot tech innovation. Sadly, most research money goes to the tech fixes and not to understanding consumer behavior and how it can be changed without much welfare loss.

Bill says in a comment that including the true cost will overcome some of the problems. However, economics is a subjective area more than for example nuclear research. One economist will find one cost to include, and another will not. How will we arrive at a true cost estimate for anything? I would argue that it is impossible. Thus, this cost-focus is only a very small part the solution. Perhaps the arguments for this are better explained in the book which I haven't read... yet.

Congratulations Johan! As mentioned, Eco-Libris will plant a tree for this book (as we do with every copy printed of this book) and we'll send Johan with the book our "One tree planted for this book" sticker.

And don't forget to keep following our giveaways. We have many more green books to review and give away so stay tuned (we'll have one tomorrow!).

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Eco-Libris: plant a tree for every book you read!

The numbers are going up: 30 million trees are cut down annually for the books sold in the U.S.

Until lately we were quoting the figure of 20 million trees as the common estimate for the number of trees cut down annually for the production of books sold in the U.S. alone. Not any more. And unfortunately, the update is not positive. We're updating this figure to (approximately) 30 million trees.

The base for the new estimate is the report 'Environmental Trends and Climate Impacts: Findings from the U.S. Book Industry', prepared by The Green Press Initiative and The Book Industry Study Group. This is probably the most important report that was published recently on the environmental impacts of the book publishing industry.

According to the report the amount of paper consumed annually for books in the U.S. is 1.6 million metric tons (2006 figures). To convert it into trees figure, we will multiply it in 20, as the figures usually used are in the range of 17-24. So the total we get is about 32 million trees, and if we round it - about 30 million trees.

I was really hoping that the first time we will update the 20 million figure it will be to a lower figure and it also made sense with the growing use of recycled paper for the production of books. Still, it shows that the growth in production of books (which means growth in the use of virgin paper) is faster than the growth of recycled paper usage, which according to our estimates is still less than 10% of the total paper used for the production of books in the U.S.

And just to be clear - most of these trees that are cut down come from un-farmed sources (not to mention the fact that tree farms themselves have in many cases a devastating impact on native forests and indigenous communities). Mandy Haggith, the author of the new book "Paper Trails" explained it to the Independent lately: "No one likes to think of trees being felled, but many of us have a cosy image in our heads that it all comes from recycling or "sustainable" woodlands growing in neat rows, perhaps somewhere in Sweden. It's a myth. Globally, 70 per cent of the 335 million tons of paper the world uses each year comes from natural, un-farmed sources. In Canada, the UK's biggest source of pulp, 90 per cent of its output comes directly from its ancient forests."

I truly hope that this is the last time this number increases. Steps are being taken by publishers with the support of readers, authors, bookstores, printers, organizations and many others, but we need to move faster to lower these figures. Eco-Libris, as we stated many times before, sees itself as an agent of change in the book industry and will continue to work with many parties in this industry all over the globe to make sure that the next time we update you with new figures, it will be a lower figure and not just another increase.

Yours,

Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!

Eco-Libris' Bookstores Series: an interview with Erica Caldwell of Present Tense

Eco-Libris' bookstores program keeps growing and currently includes 26 bookstores in the U.S., Ireland and Canada. Customers at these bookstores have the opportunity to pay $1 to plant a tree to balance each book they purchase there. Customers will also receive an Eco-Libris sticker (made of recycled paper) at the counter for each book they balance out, saying 'One tree planted for this book'.

On our bookstores series we present you with the bookstores that are taking part in the program and the people behind them. Today we have the pleasure to present you with Present Tense of Batavia, NY (halfway between the cities of Buffalo and Rochester) and its owner, Erica Caldwell, whom we interviewed here.

Hello Erica. It's great to have you with us here. When Present Tense was opened? how long you are with the store?

Present Tense opened in August 2005. I have been the owner since we opened.

What you like the most about Present Tense?

I like that we are located in an old house that once belonged to a writer, John H. Yates, who was quite famous in the early 1900s. I'm proud that we are not only providing books to people in the area but that we are also helping preserve a piece of local history.

I saw you offer some special services in the store. Can you tell me a little bit about it?

Present Tense offers a full suite of book related services including special orders, out of print searches, gift certificates, book club pre-orders, and a frequent reader discount. Our Volumes program offers special pricing and discounts for corporate, non-profit, and educational organizations.

In store, we offer complimentary gift wrapping and free wireless Internet access. In addition, we welcome community groups to use our Yates Gallery if they need a place to meet.

What do people like most about the store?

People are thrilled that they no longer have to drive half an hour to the nearest metropolitan area to buy books. Our customers are very excited to have a bookstore right here in town now.

You have many events in the store, including book parties, book group meeting, signing events and more. What is the most popular type of event?

Our book discussion groups are wonderful and they attract so many insightful, intelligent, and friendly people to our store. They have become so popular that we now offer two adult groups and one for young adults. Many of our author events are well attended, particularly if they feature local authors, and a few events that have included local history have been well received. I think our customers are very proud of this region and are interested in learning more about its past.

Are there any relationship between the store and the local library/ies?

We work with the local libraries to cross-promote events, and we work closely with them to make the community reading program a success each year. I have also done a few reviews for their weekly book review program.

What is the best selling book right now? What is the all times best selling book?

The Twilight books by Stephenie Meyer have been big sellers this summer and so has The Dragon Heir by Cinda Williams Chima. Our best selling book since we've opened is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling.

What would be your favorite book in the store?

I can't pick just one! My favorite book that I've read recently is The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, my favorite young adult book right now is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and The Spanish Bow by Andromeda Romano-Lax, A Sudden Country by Karen Fisher, So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger, and The Secret River by Kate Grenville are ones I am an advocate for if customers ask for recommendations.

Any special message you want to send to book lovers in Batavia, NY?

Thank you for supporting us for the past three years!


So if you're anywhere near Batavia, NY you're invited to visit the store (101 Washington Avenue, Batavia, NY 14020). You won't regret it! And of course, you can also visit their website at http://www.presenttensebooks.com.

Past guests on our series:

Erin Thompson of Black Bear Books (Boone, NC)
Marva Allen of the Hue-Man Bookstore and Cafe (New York, NY)
James “Surendra” Conti of East West Bookstore (Mountain View, CA)

Yours,
Raz @ Eco-Libris

Plant a tree for every book you read!